6 Questions to Ask to Hire a Qualified UX/UI Designer
How can you find a qualified UX/UI designer? This article covers everything you need to consider during the hiring process — from whether you should hire a freelancer or outsource to what questions you should ask your potential partners.
Did you know that the design of your software solution is as important as the uniqueness of your application or product?
Sometimes, a software solution's UI/UX design is, wrongly, considered only the 2nd biggest priority for businesses. This is a significant mistake in a product release strategy; no matter how many benefits you offer, if your product is poorly designed and hard to use, your customers will always look for alternatives or, worse, will stop using your solution.
Product design, scalability, and uniqueness are the top things that attract new users and keep loyal customers.
The importance of software design becomes obvious over time through user feedback, sales, and recognition. According to a survey conducted by Clutch, almost everyone (94%) says easy navigation is the most important website feature, while 83% believe that a beautiful/updated appearance on a website is also a must.
Additionally, improving the user experience on a website can increase conversion rates by up to 400%.
With these statistics in mind, let's understand who UI/UX designers are, and how to get all the benefits of UI/UX design by finding and working with appropriate professionals.
Looking to enhance the design of your software? Search for leading UI/UX designers on Top Design Firms.
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Based on your budget, timeline, and specifications we can help you build a shortlist of companies that perfectly matches your project needs. Get started by submitting your project details.
What is a UI/UX Designer?
A UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) designer is responsible for creating a product's user-friendly, distinctive, and intuitive design.
Why Do Software Development Teams Need UI/UX Designers?
Software development teams need UI/UX designers because these professionals play a gigantic role in the product's recognition, acceptance, and popularity in the market and among its users.
UI/UX designers decide which distinctive visual elements are suitable for a specific product, such as attractive color schemes, typography, and interactive and visual elements. These, in their turn, become fatal for the software's "easy and fun to use" ability.
The strategic and successful design of a product increases conversions, whether those are expressed through sales, subscriptions, high traffic, or engagement rates.
It is also important to hire a UI/UX designer at the beginning of your project. This way, you will save a significant amount of money because you adopt a specific design for your business, analyze its performance, and invest in UX issues right from the beginning.
Responsibilities and Skills of UI/UX Designers
The responsibilities and expectations of UI/UX designers vary based on the specific company they work for. For example, for us, CodeRiders: a software outsourcing service provider company, it is critical to have versatile and flexible professionals.
Our UI/UX designers should have wide experience working for companies from different industries and work cultures. This is because we have multiple clients from various industries and countries. Therefore, our UI/UX designers should clearly understand the specifications of these industries and be flexible enough to communicate and design their products accordingly.
On the other hand, a company like Amazon that offers a specific service, or a company like Coca-Cola that offers a specific product will most likely concentrate on their UI/UX designer's in-depth and strong knowledge of their specific industry and product.
However, in the end, we all do have general expectations and skill packages that are the same for all UI/UX designers worldwide.These are:
- Knowledge of User-Centric Design
- Review, Analyze, and Offer Updated and Upgraded Functionalities
- Strong Understanding of Branding
- Ability to Impress Your Customers
Knowledge of User-Centric Design
UI/UX designers should concentrate on the needs and preferences of the product's end-users. They should view the software from the users' perspective and create a user-centered design, ensuring the product is easy to use.
Review, Analyze, and Offer Updated and Upgraded Functionalities
The ability to constantly review, analyze, and offer updated and upgraded functionalities for the product is critical for both the UI/UX designer and the product owner. We all have certain applications or software solutions for our work, and we have all stumbled upon some difficulties in using these professional software solutions.
These solutions are already complex and need user guides and tutorials anyway. Imagine overcomplicating your application because of poor user interface design. Your software can provide fantastic opportunities to your end-users yet have low user satisfaction and adoption rate because of its poor user interface.
Here is when UI/UX designers come to the rescue. They should have at least enough analytical skills to eliminate user dissatisfaction risks by facilitating complex solutions and removing the learning curve for the users.
Strong Understanding of Branding
To stand out among millions of other digital solutions, your product should also catch the eye of your users. Your UI/UX design should reflect your brand's vision, identity, and culture. Moreover, your product's design should be consistent throughout various branding channels. One simple example is your brand's color.
Ability to Impress Your Customers
A successful visual representation of your software increases user engagement and retention. Happy users engage with your product more often and will more likely recommend it to others. This will drastically increase your customer loyalty rate and, consequently, lead to more sales.
Where to Look for an Experienced UI/UX Designer?
We have several options for finding qualified UI/UX designers. There is no right or wrong solution when it comes to finding a good UI/UX designer. It all depends on a specific business's budget, working style, field of operation, and willingness to be involved in the designation process. Here are some of the best ways to find experienced UI/UX designers:
In-House UI/UX Designers
If you have a high budget, prioritize the software development department, and need continuous UI/UX design services, hiring an in-house UI/UX designer is a logical solution for you. You can find in-house UI/UX designers by posting your job announcement on reputable job and recruitment websites such as Glassdoor, Indeed Hiring Platform, ZipRecruiter, Monster, and Hired. Another solution is to hire recruitment companies to filter out and present qualified candidates for you. However, this is a much more costly approach.
Outsourcing
If you intend to save money, resources, and efforts on software development and UI/UX design, outsourcing your software development and design needs is an excellent strategy.
While many people hire UX/UI designers near their own office, others are able to save money and work with experienced designers by working with offshore service providers.
There are several well-known tech hubs around world — such as those in eastern Europe and Southeast Asia — because software companies operating in these countries manage to provide skilled, flexible, and versatile software engineers and other IT-related professionals.
They can combine high-quality software development services with affordable prices, which is one of the main reasons for software outsourcing in the first place. As a rule, in tech hubs, the IT industry is very well stressed and supported by the state, national and local sectors.
This is why software vendors in tech hubs can combine all the must-have features of a good employee with affordable prices which is a dream service for many companies and organizations.
Usually, the most accepted technique for choosing a software vendor is smart filtering. First, clarify which tech hub you want to proceed with, and then look for the best software vendor in this tech hub through reputable tech directories and recognition websites.
Freelance UI/UX designers
The favorable circumstances of hiring freelance UI/UX designers are very similar to hiring dedicated UI/UX designers from software vendors. However, when hiring freelance professionals, the risks of miscommunication or failure are much higher, as you work with an individual with no formal obligations towards your company, nor do you have any institution to rely on in case of issues.
On the other hand, we have a completely different scenario when working with dedicated professionals from software outsourcing firms. When you hire a dedicated UI/UX designer from a software development company, they join your team and act as a part of your company; however, unlike a freelancer, with a dedicated UI/UX designer, you cooperate with the software vendor, not the individual.
The company that provides the UI/UX designer is responsible for their performance and work quality. This slight difference can be decisive in the case of security and reliability issues. However, whether you choose a freelance or dedicated UI/UX designer depends on your project, its risks, and concerns. In any way, these two options make a huge difference if used correctly.
6 Questions to Ask UI/UX Designer
Before hiring an employee, do not grudge about spending extra minutes to clarify your expectations of this employee. It is also useful to define your ideal candidate before looking for one. These tactics help you in the final selection and qualification process. Here are some general questions that have proven to work best in identifying a qualified and appropriate candidate. Of course, we are not listing the simple, "must-ask" ones.
Will you walk us through your regular working day and process?
This is an excellent question to expose the candidate's self-management skills and understanding of the UI/UX design process.
What is your all-time favorite example of UI/UX design? What makes them stand out?
This question will help understand the candidate's personal preferences, give some "subjective" insights from the candidate as a UI/UX designer, and test their analytical skills.
How do you respond to a negative review from your client?
This question exposes the candidate's communication skills. Does the candidate have an adequate reaction toward criticism? Does the candidate have enough negotiation skills to talk through any problem and find a co-beneficial solution for all parties?
Can you recall an instance when you misunderstood your clients' needs? How did you respond, and what lessons have you learned from it?
Asking situational questions is an excellent tactic to assess the candidate's orientation skills.
What research methods do you use?
User research is a decisive skill for a qualified UI/UX designer. Therefore, by asking this question, you learn how the candidate validates their decisions. You also assess their level of familiarity with the SDLC, design process, and its methods.
How do you keep yourself up-to-date with the latest UX/UI trends?
This question helps the interviewer assess the "digging" and determination skills of the UI/UX designer candidate. Is the candidate interested in exploring their profession? Is the candidate able to self-discipline and keep up with the updates in the field?
Invest in UI/UX Design by Hiring the Right Partner
To spot and hire a qualified UI/UX designer, you should follow some working principles. First, you should give clear, customized identification of an ideal UI/UX designer and its responsibilities for your business niche.
Qualified UI/UX designers are supposed to make your product user-friendly and eye-friendly with distinctive and unique design solutions.
To meet your business needs, you should clarify why your company needs a UI/UX designer. Once these main points are well-defined, you can adapt specific ways of finding good UI/UX designers. Some of those main tactics are looking for UI/UX designers in recognized tech hubs and writing down strategically exposing questions for UI/UX designer interviews.
To sum up, UI/UX designers have a massive role in the acceptance and recognition of an application or website. Your website's user-friendliness, relative and convenient design is as important as your product's special offers and unique features. Including UI/UX designers in your tech team is important.
This is not a "luxury" choice. It is a necessity. Hiring UI/UX designers is available and affordable for any type of business, from a start-up to SMEs and big enterprises. You should only be able to choose the right channels and tactics for finding qualified designers to cover your business needs.
Looking to enhance the design of your software? Search for leading UI/UX designers on Top Design Firms.
Need help selecting a company?
Based on your budget, timeline, and specifications we can help you build a shortlist of companies that perfectly matches your project needs. Get started by submitting your project details.